Volkswagen Transporter vs LDV Deliver 7

What's the difference?

Although closely related to Ford’s E-Transit Custom, the e-Transporter has carved its own niche in appealing to VW Transporter loyalists and businesses wanting to project a chic Euro image. For tradies and other service providers its driving range is best suited to metro duties, which if combined with the convenience of daily back-to-base charging could make it a practical solution for many working roles.

For a van that is going to be heavily loaded most of its life, the diesel Deliver 7 offers a strong value proposition with snazzy exterior design and passenger car-like interior tech. 

As a fleet-oriented vehicle, that ANCAP sticker of approval, non-slip flooring and ergonomic seats will please the health and safety officers, too.

It's a shame, then, that LDV couldn't match the reasonable refinement and ride quality offered by the electric eDeliver 7. Where that van feels competitive with rivals, the diesel Deliver 7’s budget bones add up to a bouncy, unrefined and bonging safety aid-filled driving experience.

The diesel Deliver 7 is a decent enough workhorse but it’s hard to recommend saving the money over its more refined competitor set. 

Although based on the E-Transit Custom, the e-Transporter (like the Amarok) does a commendable job in establishing its own identity, with noticeable differences in styling and a spacious and functional cabin design with a distinct VW commercial vehicle look and feel.

Its dash design is free of protrusions, leaving enough floor space between it and the seats to allow drivers convenient ‘walk-through’ access from one side of the cab to the other.

Our LWB example is clearly designed with hard work in mind, armed with 16-inch steel wheels and unpainted dark grey plastic evident in areas most vulnerable to wear and tear including the bumpers, hubcaps, door handles and mirror shells.

It rides on a sprawling 3500mm wheelbase with MacPherson strut front and coil-spring rear suspension. Key body dimensions of 5450mm length and 2032mm width are combined with a practical 1978mm height, the latter allowing access to low clearance loading zones and multi-storey carparks. The long wheelbase contributes to its largish 13-metre turning circle.

The van segment has evolved to the point where a box on wheels is no longer enough to grab attention and we can thank the Hyundai Staria for that. 

The Deliver 7 conforms to new norms adopting the exact same fascia as its eDeliver 7 that certainly stands out, though the doily pattern may trigger trypophobics. Sharp LED lighting and classic van proportions finish things off. 

The Deliver 7 rides on 16-inch steel wheels with hubcaps and 215/65R16C GitiVan 600B tyres. An upgrade to alloy wheels is offered, too.

Inside there are pleasant materials in some places, such as the soft synthetic leather door tops perfect for resting your elbow. There is some upmarket chic to the cabin but it’s eye candy only, as the blue faux stitching panel is all hard, scratchy plastic. Still, that’s the hard-wearing vibe of most in this segment.

The heavy propulsion battery mounted beneath the load floor is largely responsible for the e-Transporter’s sizeable 2540kg kerb weight, which when deducted from its 3225kg GVM leaves a payload of 685kg.

However, Volkswagen’s published rating is higher at 760kg, as European payload measurement typically allows for a 75kg driver. Even so, that’s still a modest payload compared to numerous mid-size diesel rivals (including its TDI Transporter equivalent) offering up to one tonne or more.

About 150kg of the e-Transporter’s payload can be carried on the clever trio of folding roof racks courtesy of its Ford donor, which lie flush with the roof when not in use but can quickly be locked in vertical positions to carry loads as needed.

Our test vehicle is also rated to tow up to 2300kg of braked trailer but Volkswagen does not publish a GCM figure (how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) so we don’t know if it can tow its maximum trailer weight while carrying its maximum payload.

The cargo bay, which offers up to 6.8 cubic metres of load volume, is accessed through a standard passenger-side sliding door with 1030mm opening width or the swing-up tailgate.

The load floor, which comes standard with a protective liner, is 3002mm long and 1777mm wide with 1392mm between the rear wheel housings. This means it can carry two standard Aussie pallets or three Euro pallets secured by a choice of eight load anchorage points.

A section of load floor length can also be extended to 3450mm by opening a hinged hatch on the lower left of the cabin bulkhead, which can be handy for carrying long lengths of timber, pipe, conduit, carpet rolls etc. The walls are also neatly lined to mid-height and there’s a 12V socket.

There’s also ample cabin storage with three tiers of storage (including large-bottle holders) in each front door plus cupholders on each side of the dash-pad, which also has a large open tray in the centre with a pair of USB ports.

The lower dash includes a large glove box, driver’s pop-out cupholder, wireless phone charging pad, 12V socket and more USB ports, while the centre seat backrest folds forward to serve as a mobile work desk.

Beneath the hinged base cushions on the passenger bench seat is a cavernous hidden storage area which is ideal for the five metre long charging cable.

When it comes to exterior size, the LDV Deliver 7 sits between the smaller Hyundai Staria load SWB and larger Toyota HiAce LWB. It is only available in low-roof guise but the Deliver 7’s generous width is its party trick, measuring 2118mm from flank to flank. 

The Deliver 7’s load area is 2547mm long (or 2913mm in the LWB), 1800mm wide (pinched to 1390mm between the arches) and 1428mm tall for a total of 6.3 cubic metres of load space. There are six heavy-duty tie-down loops to secure cargo. 

Adding to practicality are standard barn doors which are handy in low car parks and make loading pallets — the Deliver 7 will easily fit two Australian or Euro palettes inside — simple.

They can be opened to 90 degrees where they lock, or all the way to 180 degrees. There is no lock when fully extended, though, so they can blow closed on windy days. We’d also appreciate seeing a second sliding side door as an option. 

The Deliver 7’s star factor is payload, in fact it’s clear of all the listed rivals above by a reasonable margin. The Deliver 7’s 2105kg kerb weight and 3400kg GVM mean drivers can carry up to 1290kg of cargo in the back. It is also capable of towing a 2000kg braked, or 750kg unbraked, trailer load. 

Oddly, for its impressive carrying capacity, the Deliver 7 is not equipped with a bulkhead. It is also a strict two-seater without a centre bench for a third occupant. 

The trade off here is that the Deliver 7 has supportive car-like bucket seats with adjustable arm rests. The upholstery is cloth that feels hard wearing and the seats slide forwards and backwards, have height and tilt adjust along with manual lumbar to keep you fresh after a few hours behind the small diameter leather-appointed steering wheel.

Moving to a stalk-style shifter frees up the Deliver 7’s centre console for added incidental storage, with handy spots for tape measures, keys, invoices and four cupholders easily accessible.

Hidden storage is a little limited, with a small-ish glove box and ashtray the extent of the cubbies. 

And while the Deliver 7’s technology suite looks good on the surface, it is not particularly responsive and many heavy-use functions are restricted to the screen.

For example, the headlight controls are on the main menu and they do not automatically switch off when you turn the Deliver 7 off using its push-button start system unless they’re in auto mode and, instead of just turning a stalk to silence beeping, you have to reboot the car. 

The eating and ventilation controls are a mix of digital and physical though the row of switches is an awfully long way from the driver’s seat. The scroll wheels to adjust fan speed and temperature have very fine stops making it difficult to be accurate on the move. 

The touchscreen’s menus are otherwise straightforward enough, though it is a shame Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone mirroring has to run through a cable attached to only one of the three USB-A and USB-C charge ports scattered about the interior.

The LDV Deliver 7 is essentially a rebadged version of SAIC Motor's Maxus V70 sold in China and arrives in Australia as a simple proposition. Short or long wheelbase is your only choice, with a single sliding door and rear barn doors as standard.

The range simplicity makes LDV importer Ateco’s life easier, meaning the price is sharp. The Deliver 7 short wheelbase we have on test is normally $44,726, drive-away, but if you hold an ABN (as almost every van buyer does) it’s yours for $42,490 on the road. 

Admittedly, the gap between LDV’s offering and established names has closed since the G10, however, it’s still about $10,000 cheaper than rivals once you factor in on-road costs.

For reference, the Toyota HiAce LWB is $51,636, the Hyundai Staria Load Twin Swing $50,640 and Ford Transit Custom SWB Trend starts at $56,590, with all those prices before on-road costs. 

And there’s good reason the Deliver 7 has come upmarket; plenty of whizz-bang technology inside. A generous 12.3-inch central multimedia touchscreen, decent sound system, sizeable digital information screen, LED head and tail-lights, electronic park brake, keyless entry with proximity key and rain-sensing wipers should give the LDV a leg up in the showroom. 

Health and safety officer-pleasing features such as a bright LED light in the load bay and rubber flooring (which is less grippy than its ‘non-slip’ name would have you believe), high definition reversing camera and parking sensors at both ends also come standard.

For an extra $1500, you can upgrade to 16-inch alloy wheels and pick up a 360-degree camera. Dual sliding doors are part of that pack, too. 

The e-Transporter’s single electric motor, which produces 210kW of power and 415Nm of torque, drives the rear wheels through a single-speed automatic transmission. It offers numerous drive modes including 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Sport', 'Slippery' and 'Tow/Haul' plus there's a 'B' button on the gear selector which optimises regenerative braking for largely one-pedal driving and maximum energy harvesting.

The motor and transmission are neatly combined in a compact unit mounted beneath the load floor driving the rear wheels. This design has an inherent traction advantage over front-wheel drive rivals, particularly when towing and hauling heavy loads on low-grip surfaces.

There is nothing special about the Deliver 7's carryover 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder that produces peak power and torque of 123kW and 390Nm.

The Deliver 7's engine iscompliant with Euro 5 standards and emits 203 grams of CO2 per kilometre. It is equipped with a diesel particulate filter (DPF), though no AdBlue tank. 

It is noisy and vibey in this application but provides adequate motivation unladen and loaded, feeling especially punchy between 2200-3000rpm. 

The LDV Deliver 7 is front-wheel drive and uses a nine-speed ZF-sourced torque converter automatic that shifts smoothly. There are three drive modes: 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Power'. 

Annoyingly, the Deliver 7’s transmission is calibrated to shift into the highest gear as soon as possible, sometimes leaving you without enough grunt to accelerate without kicking down.

It is also slow to downshift under braking, meaning you need to lean on the brakes harder when carrying a heavy load. There are tactile shift paddles behind the wheel to encourage a downshift if you need, though.

Volkswagen claims a combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle electric WLTP driving range of up to 330km from a single charge of its 64kWh lithium-ion propulsion battery, which can be charged from zero to 100 per cent in around seven hours and 30 minutes using a three-phase 11kW AC charger and 10-80 per cent in just 38 minutes using 125kW DC fast charging.

The dash display confirmed a 100 per cent charge and estimated driving range of up to 298km when we collected the test vehicle. After completing 103km of metropolitan driving there was 65 per cent charge and 186km range remaining, which was consistent with the original onboard estimate.

We plugged into a public AC station (the charging port is located behind a flap in the front bumper) and after three hours the battery charge had increased from 65 to 93 per cent, with the estimated driving range rising from 186km to 290km. The total test distance was 233km with average consumption of 20kWh/100km, so based on those figures a real-world driving range of around 300km from a full charge is credible.

The combined (urban/extra-urban) ADR fuel cycle efficiency for the LDV Deliver 7 is a respectable 7.7L/100km. Our 200km loop including rural, urban and motorway driving saw it return 8.5L/100km at an average speed of 45km/h.

In urban and suburban driving, we saw 10L/100km aided by the engine start-stop system. 

There is a large 80-litre fuel tank that would see driving ranges in excess of 1000km in favourable conditions, with 800km still likely on urban delivery runs.

It has a big left footrest and ample steering wheel and seat adjustment, with the latter including a fold-down inboard armrest, power lumbar support and even manual extension of the base cushion to provide extra thigh support.

The large truck-style door mirrors feature a wide-angle view in their lower third which combined with blind-spot monitoring and other active features ensures commanding side and rear surveillance for the driver.

More than 400Nm of torque is ample for a mid-size van and with most of that delivered instantly from standing starts thanks to the electric motor, it has zippy acceleration that’s ideal for metro driving.

It’s also like riding in a tram at suburban speeds with its near-silent drivetrain although tyre noise increases and can become intrusive at highway speeds, even with a sealed bulkhead to largely insulate the cabin from most of the tyre noise emanating from the rear wheel housings.

To sample its load carrying ability we forklifted 325kg into the cargo bay which combined with our crew of two equalled a total payload of more than half a tonne. It coped comfortably with this task across a mix of city roads and highway hauling. Overall, we found it difficult to fault as a urban-based workhorse.

The Deliver 7 is effectively the same configuration as its electric sibling, using struts with coil springs up front and a leaf-sprung beam axle at the back. Standard stuff for a heavy duty van. 

The front and rear disc brakes have a nice solid pedal feel with well calibrated ABS and the Deliver 7 is generally safe and fairly secure on the road-holding front. 

Unfortunately, the suspension set-up of LDV’s diesel van is significantly worse than the rather refined electric model. Unladen, the Deliver 7’s ride quality is atrocious, bordering on unacceptable. 

Over speed bumps, the rear end bucks and shimmies as the van’s dampers fail to control the heavy duty leaf springs. There were several instances when the Deliver 7 was so uncontrolled my backside lost contact with the seat cushion.

As Deliver 7s are likely to spend most of their life loaded up, we headed to BC Sands in Taren Point which happily put 600kg worth of builders sand in the back. The rear ride height dropped 20mm with the load onboard.

With the weight onboard the Deliver 7’s ride settled on rippled tarmac and the bouncing was less abrupt coming off speed humps.

However, the 3.3-turn lock-to-lock steering became light and ponderous and the ride still lacks finesse. A previous-gen Toyota HiAce rides better. 

Visibility is another Deliver 7 struggle. A solid-walled van will always be compromised but with the seat in a comfortable position for me, at 188cm, my head was in line with the B-pillar.

The big mirrors couldn’t be adjusted far enough out for my driving position, either, leaving plenty of blind-spot (lucky there’s a safety system for that!). The A-pillars are thick and pushed forward, impacting visibility at junctions and roundabouts.

The LDV Deliver 7 achieved a gold star rating in ANCAP’s light duty van testing in 2024 thanks to six airbags and a long list of driver assist features. 

Due to the poor outward visibility, you need the assistance which includes auto emergency braking (AEB), driver attention monitoring, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, speed sign assist and tyre pressure monitoring. 

Aside from the very helpful blind-spot monitoring, the Deliver 7’s other features feel more like a box-ticking exercise than genuinely helpful aids. You can turn the ones you don’t like off in about four taps on the central touchscreen. 

I encountered two instances of false positive AEB intervention; regular misinformation and beeping from the speed sign detection; constant tugging from the emergency lane-keep assist even in its most forgiving setting and, at one point, the driver attention monitoring scalded me for smoking a (non-existent) cigarette.

This van comes standard with a five-year/unlimited km warranty with roadside assist plus a separate eight-year/160,000km propulsion battery warranty.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/30,000km whichever occurs first. Volkswagen offers three-year and five-year prepaid service plans with average costs of around $400-$450 per service.

These terms are competitive with rivals like the LDV eDeliver 7 and Ford E-Transit Custom, with the LDV offering lower servicing costs and a longer battery warranty. The e-Transporter’s servicing is also considerably cheaper than its eVito German rival.

Volkswagen Group Australia is backed by a large national network of around 170-180 dealerships represented in all states and territories including many regional areas.

The LDV Deliver 7 is backed by a competitive seven-year/200,000km warranty, however LDV does not publish fixed-price servicing.

After purchase, the Deliver 7 needs maintenance after six months or 5000km at a cost of $344, with subsequent intervals yearly or at 20,000km, whichever comes first. 

Australian importer Ateco was able to give us a guide for three years of servicing at $2644 though this will vary depending on labour rates, rate of consumable use and other factors depending on the dealer. 

Toyota caps HiAce servicing at $1740 for the same period and gives a clearer indication of pricing beyond the three-year mark, which may help you budget into the future.